Iraqi troops in fight to retake Tikrit from jihadists

Forces loyal to the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have begun
advancing into Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein which fell to
jihadists on June 12

A Shi'ite volunteer, from brigades loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, keeps guard as he mans a machine gun during a military advance in areas under the control of militants of the Islamic State on the outskirts of SamarraPhoto: Reuters

By Reuters

9:23AM BST 15 Jul 2014

Iraq's army launched an assault on Tuesday morning to try to retake the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, an officer and a soldier involved in the attack told Reuters.

The attempt to retake Tikrit, which fell on June 12 to Sunni insurgents led by the extremist Islamic State group, began two-and-a-half weeks ago. The army has been saying for two weeks that its forces are on the outskirts of the city.

Tikrit lies 100 miles north of Baghdad. It is a stronghold of loyalists of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and ex-army officers who joined forces with Islamic State to take over large parts of north and west Iraq last month.

The officer and soldier said the military attacked from the village of Awja, some five miles south of the city. The army retook Awja, the birthplace of Saddam, on the night of July 3, and has been trying to push north since.

Heavy fighting broke out in the Shishin district of southern Tikrit, they said.

Government forces retreated when Sunni insurgents overran Mosul on June 10 and swept south to seize Tikrit two days later. Shi'ite militias are now fighting alongside soldiers and police, but there have been few notable victories for government forces since they began a campaign late last month to seize back territory.